Three-legged divider



Sept- 4 1934 H. B. HILLYER 1,972,655

THREE-LEGGED DIVIDER Filed June 13, 1931 Zware/7157 Patented Sept. 4, 1934 unirse STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in drafting instruments and has more particular reference to an improved divider.

An object of the invention is to provide a divider of the usual and well known type with an additional or auxiliary leg associated therewith in such a manner that it may be readily positioned for use and yet be conveniently folded out of the way when it is desired to use the regular divider.

An additional object is to provide a conventional two-legged divider with an auxiliary leg whereby the device will have additional uses and will function to transfer data from one record sheet or drawing to another.

With these and various other objects in View, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional divider equipped with an auxiliary leg in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the auxiliary legs.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a conventional divider of the type employed by draftsmen is disclosed, including a plurality of main legs 10 and 12, respectively, each leg at one end being formed with disc portions 14 and 16, respectively. The disc portion of each leg is offset from the center line so that when the portions are in engagement their thickness is substantially that of the main legs 10 and 12. For pivotally securing the legs together a yoke 18 is provided having a pin 20 extending through the respective legs of the yoke and through central openings formed in the disc portions 14 and 16 for the purpose. The yoke 18 has formed integrally therewith the customary handle 22.

In accordance with the present invention the leg 12 has its inner wall cut away for the greater portion of its length, providing at the end adjacent the disc 16 a shoulder 24. Pivotally attached to the inner wall of leg 12 is an auxiliary leg 26 provided with an integral stud 28. For pivotally securing the leg 26 to the main leg 12 of the divider an opening is provided in the main leg at a point below the shoulder 24, the opening being adapted to receive the stud 28. Preferably the auxiliary leg 26 is formed so that it substantially occupies the space provided by the cut away portion, whereby the leg, when in folded position in alignment with leg 12, will permit complete closing of the main legs of the divider.

With the auxiliary leg pivotally secured to the divider by the above structure it is seen that the leg will have pivotal movement in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane passing through the main legs 10 and 12 of the divider. An important use of such device is to transpose one point on a drawing to the identical position on another like drawing of the same scale. The device has thus been found useful in transferring data from maps and in transferring slope lines from one set of cross sections to two or more similar sets of cross sections.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A drafting instrument of the type described, comprising in combination, a plurality of legs pivotally secured to each other at one end, said pivot being constructed whereby the legs have movement in ther same plane in a direction toward and away from each other, the inside wall of one of said legs being cut away for the greater part of its length, and an auxiliary leg pivoted to said inside wall, said auxiliary leg in inoperative position occupying the space formed by said cut away portion.

2. A drafting instrument of the type described, comprising in combination, a plurality of legs pivotally secured to each other at one end, said pivot being constructed whereby the legs have movement in the same plane in a direction toward and away from each other, the inside wall of one of said legs being cut away for the greater part of its length, and an auxiliary leg occupying the space thus formed, said auxiliary leg being pivoted by a stud projecting from the leg and fitting in an opening in the wall provided by the cut away portion.

3. A drafting instrument of the type described, comprising in combination, a plurality of legs pivotally secured to each other at one end, said pivot being constructed whereby the legs have` movement in the same plane in a direction toward and away from each other, the inside wall of one of said legs being recessed, and an auxiliary leg positioned in said recess and being pivoted at one end whereby the free end of the auxiliary leg is adjacent the free ends of the main legs, said auxiliary leg having a thickness substantially equal to the depth of the recess. HENRY B. HILLYER. 

